Ghosts in the Attic
by elitetrine
Summary: When Skywarp and Thundercracker are forced to work together in the Academy, neither is what the other expects. Thundercracker is not broken, despite what he thinks. {abuse recovery fic}
1. Chapter 1

Most of Thundercracker's classmates knew very little about him. It was common knowledge that his grades placed him in the top five percent of his class, sure, and he had small groups of friends he would split his time between, but it seemed to many that his most expressive moments came on the occasions when he would open his messages and reply to a mech no one in the school had met.

No one seemed to think much of how his elated responses slowly morphed into obvious worry. A small number of friends noted—only when the mech was out of earshot—how uncomfortable he had seemed after finally meeting the mystery mech in person. They didn't ask, and Thundercracker never spoke of it. It became a thing of the past and was forgotten. Sometimes young mechs change suddenly, the few who noticed supposed.

He could barely be considered young when he was assigned to a project with a seeker he barely knew named Skywarp. "Assigned" was perhaps the wrong word; everyone else in the class had chosen their partners while he shifted awkwardly in his seat. Most of his friends no longer shared classes with him, and his tendency to blow up at shirkers didn't work in his favor for group projects.

Skywarp didn't end up with him for lack of trying on their part. All their friends had already chosen partners by the time they asked them, and Thundercracker wondered if it had anything to do with their reputation of goofing off.

He resigned himself to doing all the work when Skywarp scanned the room and met his gaze with wide optics.

"Hey," greeted his classmate with a tinge of reluctance. "So..."

"I was planning to make a rudimentary 3D mapping program," the blue mech stated without preamble, looking down at a datapad about the programming assignment. "That okay?"

"Uh," Skywarp answered, wide-eyed. "Yeah. When you wanna meet up?"

"Whenever. Here's my comm frequency," Thundercracker said absently, pinging it to the other. "Just comm me when you're free."

He was honestly surpisrised when, after classes, Skywarp called him.

He was even more surprised when they actually showed up in the group study room he had reserved.

_Most _surprising was the way the mech seemed _excited_ as they laid various schematics down on the table and started chattering about the mathematics involved.

As it turned out, the topic was Skywarp's special interest. To Thundercracker, it was… refreshing? It had been so long since he had seen genuine excitement and interest in an academic topic without any mocking. (If he were honest with himself, it was one of the reasons he hardly got excited anymore.)

It was frustrating, being the one who understood the least, but Skywarp's happiness was, well, _endearing_. Halfway through they decided to call it a day, having accomplished much more than Thundercracker had ever hoped to in the first week, and—at Skywarp's insistence—took to the skies. The Academy _recommended _students not to fly without two wingmates but that was hardly enforced, and although Thundercracker could outmaneuver his classmate he hardly doubted the aerial capabilities of the teleporter.

'Hey Thun,' Skywarp called through the commlink as the two rose on an updraft, 'Sorry we got off on the wrong pede. Guess the rumors are wrong about you.'

The blue seeker would have frozen if he were on the ground. As it was, he hesitated. 'Rumors?'

'Oh, uh. Never mind. They're nothing.'

'Warp. What rumors?'

'Like. Uh. You sure you want to know?' Receiving silence, they continued, 'Like that you're so focused on working you forget about people and get angry about small stuff. Like you're really distant and critical.'

More silence, then, 'Guess that's true.'

'But you didn't get angry at me once. Uh. Thanks for that, by the way. I know talking about spatial distortion gets annoying.'

Thundercracker paused. 'Why? Skywarp, you're _brilliant. _I had no idea about most of the things you said. Because of you, this project is going to be _amazing._'

There was a long pause, which the blue mech credited to Skywarp's long series of spins through the sky.

'Seriously, Warp. I couldn't do this without you. I… I underestimated you.'

Transforming to land, he flashed a smile up at his partner. 'Thanks.'

The muttered 'Thanks, TC,' barely passed through the comm.

Finally, _finally_ the project was finished. Not that either of the two had minded working on it together. Actually…. Thundercracker was a little disappointed. He would miss spending time with Skywarp, he realized, and didn't appreciate the thought. _This is why you don't get attached_.

Still, the two of them had celebrated its completion, all smiles and laughter and inside jokes the project had prompted, and Skywarp was absolutely beaming.

"Just wanna say, I had a lot of fun."

"Same here." Thundercracker nodded, grinning fondly. "Sorry I have to go already. I need to refuel but you have my comm; just ping me whenever you want to hang out again."

"TC, wait-" Skywarp began suddenly, lightly grabbing Thundercracker's shoulder with one servo. The larger mech stiffened slightly at the touch before Skywarp drew away, looking apologetic. "You okay?"

"I'm fine," Thundercracker assured with a nod. "Just… don't like being touched much. Go on."

"I was thinking, I really had fun being with you."

"You said as much."

"No, I mean," Skywarp drawled for emphasis, "I really liked hanging out with _you_."

Thundercracker, not comprehending, tilted his helm slightly. "I liked hanging out with you too."

"Well, I was wondering if you wanted to spend some time together next vacation?" Their voice was hesitant. "Like, just us?"

"Yeah, Warp. I'd like that."

He tried not to go wide-eyed over the hopeful and excited grin he received.

He was completely endeared.


	2. Chapter 2

Thundercracker peered down at the figure seated on the floor of the study room, their arms pulling their knees loosely to their cockpit. Skywarp had arrived at the room first, which wasn't concerning in itself, but they had seemed zoned out for an unusually long time, even for them.

The blue mech slid from his chair and planted himself in front of his classmate after a long moment, nearly eye level with the larger seeker while they slouched. "Everything alright?"

Skywarp's optics brightened and glanced at Thundercracker fleetingly before avoiding optic contact. They had been lost in thought, he realized, not necessarily worried; Skywarp rarely looked directly at him anymore unless they were about to go on about their special interest. "Huh? Oh, yeah. Just need to tell you something. Um." They paused to find the right words. "I can't spend break with you after all. I gotta study."

"Oh," the blue mech grunted. "Yeah, I get it. Physics classes are kicking my aft right now. It's fine."

"Really?" Skywarp asked, voice laced with incredulity. "I've got pretty good marks in physics, but the other stuff, the stuff about language junk and codes, that I don't get. It's all just text, but physics is…." They gestured vaguely at the air. "Like that, you know."

A long moment of silence filled the air as the two thought.

"I could try to teach you?" Thundercracker offered. "And maybe you could help me with physics?" He doubted that the other would be able to help him much—his grades in the class were already decent by most standards—but the offer was genuine, and knew that at the very least he would leave with more trivia on the subject than he ever knew he wanted. And anyway, Skywarp's explanations were always interesting.

Skywarp flashed their usual grin, and Thundercracker couldn't help but smile back. "Sounds great, TC. I love- I mean… I'd like that."

Academy residences were usually closed during the brief vacation, but—because it was one of the shorter breaks, and because much of the student body would prefer _not _to go home even if they had one outside the dorms—it had become popular to live in temporary break housing. The primary building had previously been a permanent residence and its moderately-sized rooms devoid of any decoration hardly varied from the usual suites.

Sharing a room with Skywarp was very different than living with Lightdive. Thundercracker had been rooming with him for several grades, entirely because they had quickly reached an agreement to leave each other alone. Lightdive appreciated that Thundercracker didn't ask questions when he commed telling the other to stay out of the room for the night—he spent long hours in the study rooms anyway—and Thundercracker was fine with it all as long as his goldenrod roommate was quiet when they were both home. This turned out to be rare; after accidentally walking in on what he mildly referred to as "activities of dubious legality," Thundercracker took up an irregular recharge schedule between classes to avoid the other.

Skywarp, despite not having reached any such agreement, was a much more pleasant suitemate. They were messy and more emotional than Thundercracker was used to; they stayed up late, occasionally snickering at something on their monitor; and they said more to Thundercracker during the break than Lightdive had in many grades. Their wall was plastered with electronic posters of music groups and idols Thundercracker had never heard of (and probably would want to either). Living with Skywarp was exactly what he had feared having a suitemate would be like when he first came to the Academy.

But the temporary room was more full of life than his usual one ever would be. He loved it.

He even enjoyed his little mentoring sessions with Skywarp. Shortly after their project together, Thundercracker had made physical study aides, mostly guessing that Skywarp would be a tactile learner, and his spark swelled with pride whenever the seeker's face would light up in understanding.

Skywarp's lessons were hard to understand at first, but Thundercracker liked them. They made schoolwork into games, little challenges that could be broken up into chunks. The black mech would use analogies and similes that made perfect sense to them, and Thundercracker would always realise in hindsight how accurate they were after he understood the mechanics; he would smile in understanding and appreciation despite himself, but could never really bring himself to be embarrassed when his partner would beam back at him.

The last night before the regular dorms opened again, the two had set aside their datapads and gone for a flight. The expanse of darkness above them was beautiful as they landed at the edge of the badlands bordering the city. Thundercracker sat and leaned back on his elbows, venting slowly as he processed the view. His companion had been looking in every direction and presently dropped to the ground beside him.

"Why d'you like them so much? Not like they're not always there."

Thundercracker shrugged. "Don't know. Look nice, I guess."

He had been asked the question before—by Cloudhopper, to whom he had said that he had considered joining an exploration, and by Skystorm, who he had told that the stars seemed mysterious and profound. The excuses were complete slag, of course. He had made them up on the spot, fully expecting the mechs who had expressed interest in him to laugh at his honestly baseless fascination.

Skywarp laughed, but Thundercracker had predicted that. It wasn't the barking, derisive laugh he would expect from Cloudhopper or the patronizing and belittling chuckle Skystorm would have given. Skywarp's was—not gentler, no, Skywarp was never _gentle_—but not mocking or demeaning.

"Look nice, huh?" Skywarp repeated eventually, humming. "Guess so. I used'ta like finding pictures in the patterns, but it's kinda sad doing that by yourself."

"Why not go with your friends?"

The black mech was hardly visible in the dark, but Thundercracker could make out an amused expression on their face. "Not too many mechs I'd spend time with out here. Too many of 'em aren't interested in being alone out here just to look at some lights."

"What?"

"Well, you know, they're more into the… companionship." Skywarp gestured vaguely with one servo; Thundercracker stared back, bemused. "They wanna spend a few orns with me and then dump my sorry aft," they sighed, frustrated.

"Oh," Thundercracker replied. "They flirt with you?"

"_Now _you get it!" They smirked cynically. "Believe it or not, TC, I am one hot piece of aft." As if to prove a point, they rolled to their side and struck a pose, chin resting on one servo with the other at their waist.

"Uh."

"Come on, TC, don't fall for me _now_," Skywarp snickered before shuffling over, folding their arms on Thundercracker's legs, and settling their chin on top. "Number one rule is don't mess around with anyone you already like or things get…" They kicked their legs and frowned. "Messy."

A long pause ensued in which it became obvious that Thundercracker had no intention of responding; Skywarp, unused to the silence, looked up at the smaller mech. "Your engine's loud."

Thundercracker averted his optics, apparently finding something more interesting on the ground. "Sorry," he mumbled, but said nothing else.

"I mean," rambled Skywarp, "not in a _bad _way. It'd be too quiet out here without you. It. Whatever."

Their classmate said nothing to that, which was… worrying. Reading emotions was far from Skywarp's forte, and sure Thundercracker was notoriously silent and unnoticeable in classes, but they had found that he was often fairly open around them once the two had gotten used to each other.

Had they said something wrong? Maybe he was sensitive about his engines—but even before that he had seemed sullen. Skywarp kicked their legs slightly as they skimmed through any relevant things they knew about their classmate.

His systems were fine, since he'd mentioned going in for a check-up recently; he might have recalled something bad that happened recently, but he had told Skywarp, grinning and cheerful, that this break had been one of his best, so not that… His bouts of depression, he'd said, usually happened when he was alone, and—oh.

Skywarp shoved themselves off Thundercracker and upright as if he had cosmic rust. Or rather, as if _they _had cosmic rust. "TC, I'm sorry, I'm really sorry okay—" They gesticulated wildly. "I forgot—"

"_Warp_," Thundercracker interjected, his voice strained and his expression serious. He took Skywarp's servos in his to stop their meaningless gestures and held them up to his helm, an excuse to look down rather than at the other. "I'm okay. It's okay. _This time_." He vented deeply. "Everything's fine."

"Why didn't you just say?" the larger mech asked, concern and genuine confusion in their voice. Everyone always asked that, and like always Thundercracker just stared at the ground and shrugged.

_Because at least you seemed comfortable._

_Maybe you'd be insulted._

_You might leave._

_I'm used to it anyway._

If he said anything he'd get laughed at, or worse, pitied. Treated like he was naïve or broken. He knew they weren't good reasons, but still they lurked in the back of his mind.

With a jolt, he realized he had been absentmindedly tracing patterns on the other's servos. His hands retreated in a panic, followed by the rest of him as he rose from the ground. He didn't dare look at his (ex-?)friend's face.

"I-I'm sorry," he sputtered." "Sorry. I'll just—"

"TC?"

It hurt, Skywarp saying his nickname like that. Worried. Of _course_, they would pity the poor glitched seeker and his defective processor. Worry for a broken mech, that's how it always ended.

"TC, please," Skywarp said gently. _Gently_. Skywarp was _not_ gentle, _should_ not be gentle. "Are you okay? You didn't do anything."

This was _wrong_, painfully so: Skywarp coddling him, clicking gentle words as if he were a—a sparkling, or—a distressed _trinemate. _Pity was the last thing he wanted. Please, laugh, or get angry, anything but this again—but the emotions jumbled in his processor laced his words with static when he began to speak, counting off points on his servos and avoiding optic contact like it would kill him.

He counted off one finger. "I'm fine." Two. "I shouldn't have acted like that." Three. "But don't—don't treat me like this, like you pity me, even if you do. This is _my _fault." Four. "I'm only saying this because I _know_ I owe you an explanation, but servo contact calms me, and I know, it's silly and pointless, just forget about it. Please." Five. "Just forget about _all _of this. Sorry I dragged you into… whatever that was."

"TC," Skywarp began neutrally, "stay with me here. But only if you want to."

Thundercracker hesitated. He didn't want to. What he _wanted _was to fly home and hopefully never have to face them again. Skywarp was lost to him already thanks to his series of mistakes, but… maybe. Maybe they would ignore what had just occurred and things could go back to normal. (Yeah, right.) Nevertheless he slowly lowered himself to the ground beside his companion, staring at his pedes all the while.

Skywarp, for their part, seemed at least as tentative as him. "I get the thing about holding servos being comforting, you know," they stated with a shrug. "Would that help?"

A black servo was extended with slight hesitation. Two larger servos reached out to cradle it, tracing its joints carefully.

"I don't pity you, TC. Pity's for the weak. I've _seen_ you fly," they half-laughed, "there's nothing pitiable about you. Just ignore that 'emotion is a weakness' slag." Their expression hardened. "Listen, I don't know how badly I messed up but it must have been _really bad _to make you freak out like that. You told me and I still messed up and you got upset for a reason."

"It's not your-"

"Yeah, TC, it _is_ my fault, and you have every right to be mad."

Thundercracker opened his mouth as if to protest, then thought better of it. One servo closed lightly around Skywarp's thumb. "Yeah," he said. "Okay."

Skywarp leaned back and spread out their legs, forcing them to support themselves with the servo not presently being held. Thundercracker did the same, leaving two servos absentmindedly touching on the ground between the two mechs.

"Hey, TC." Skywarp broke the silence, for which Thundercracker was grateful; he was beginning to feel disgustingly embarrassed. Warp pointed at a cluster of stars with their free servo, tracing a pattern. "I think those stars kinda look like Jetstorm kicking my aft. Great omen for the next tests, huh?"

Thundercracker did laugh at that. "Warp, you've been studying constantly. You'll be fine."

"But I've been _failing_, TC," they whined without much conviction. "I don't wanna have to repeat again."

The smaller mech turned his head, meeting their optics.

"Warp, I heard you reciting history earlier, stuff you definitely didn't know before break." He grinned and leaned into the other's shoulder. "You can do this."

"Only 'cause of you," Skywarp pouted. "You're the smart one."

"Oh?" Thundercracker said, optics widening in mock surprise. "So I just suddenly started understanding physics and advanced computations through the power of Primus?" He chuckled. "And anyway, doesn't matter if I'm good at art and theoretical stuff. You know about the world, you know how to fight, how to fly. All that other stuff doesn't matter."

"TeeCee…" Skywarp warned, frowning.

Thundercracker raised his free servo in a placating gesture and leaned away from the other. "Hey, I'm not even being all self-depreciating this time, okay?" He paused, rubbed the back of his helm, and vented as he looked away. "I'm just saying, you're amazing enough without knowing all that pointless slag. Especially when the teachers don't even bother teaching in ways you can get." Receiving only silence, he continued, more unsteadily than before, "Sorry. I know it's weird for mechs to be so, uh, open, I guess? Around here, I mean."

"Aw, shut up," Skywarp finally replied, grinning when Thundercracker braved looking to them. "You're a sap, TC, but that's not _bad_." They bumped their shoulder again Thundercracker's playfully. "And uh, thanks. Wait, slag—" they groaned, hiding their face behind a servo. "I keep messing up, don't I?"

"You know, I was leaning on you just before that. It's fine."

"Yeah, that's why I assumed it was okay, but, I don't know, maybe it was a one-time thing, or…"

"Warp!" Thundercracker laughed, "it's _fine_. Thanks."

"Okay, maybe sometime you need to give me a lesson on where touching you is okay or something—" Skywarp cut off suddenly after Thundercracker began to laugh. "Okay, I did _not _mean it like that," they shouted as he jumped off the ground, "and you _know _it, you aft!"

"Come on, Warp, don't fall for me _now,_" the blue mech imitated, snickering once he was well out of striking range of his friend.

"I can kick your aft, you know!" Skywarp yelled as they brought themself to their pedes.

"Here's a tip for you!" Thundercracker half-howled in laughter as he transformed to take off. "Threats aren't usually a very good flirting method!"

Fuel levels low and spirits high, the two could barely stop laughing long enough to sneak back into the Academy after curfew.


	3. Chapter 3

Thundercracker stared at the datapad in his servos as he strode down the halls of the Academy behind his friend.

"Failed."

"Failed!" Skywarp wailed. "And they're makin' me get a tutor. A _tutor_, TC!" Their shoulders slumped as they looked down at the smaller seeker. "If you can't teach me, no one can."

"Maybe they'll find the right method for you?" Thundercracker offered. "My method clearly wasn't it."

"But it was!" protested Skywarp. "I just, when I got the test it was different than what I'd studied. The layout was all different and the page was so crowded." The blue mech nodded in understanding; Primus knew the formatting was as important as the context for them.

"You could ask the professor to let you retake a more spaced out version," Thundercracker suggested.

Skywarp raised an optic ridge.

"_I _could ask the professor," the younger amended. The addition was met with a shrug.

"I know all the teachers probably love you, TC, but I really, really doubt any of them would do that," Skywarp laughed bitterly. "I'll just go along with the mentoring thing and get screeched at for not learning right like everyone else." They stopped suddenly in front of a door; Thundercracker, still half-focused on his datapad, nearly ran into their back. Frowning worriedly and venting, Skywarp keyed open the door before entering. Their comrade followed, not knowing what to expect.

The room was small by Academy standards, empty save for a few chairs around a modest table and a large screen on one wall. Skywarp promptly slumped down in one of the seats and tossed their helm back in defeat.

"You have any classes for the next hour?" they asked hopefully, glancing at the other.

"Well, no, but-" Thundercracker made the mistake of looking back at the expectant expression and vented. "You'll be fine, Warp." He half-smiled as he took a seat. "But yeah, sure I'll stay."

Skywarp flashed a grin too pleased to stay annoyed at. "Owe you one."

It was over ten kliks later that the door slid open and in strode a diminutive, rather unpleased seeker wearing a scowl that could pierce a spark chamber; Thundercracker feared she actually might when she noticed the two and deepened her frown. A servo clutched desperately at his under the table.

"So," the newcomer sneered shrilly as she waltzed in, "which one of you is the hopeless flunkee I have the _pleasure_ of wasting my precious time on, and which one is going to get the slag out of this room before I pick out my next lab rat?"

Skywarp gaped at Thundercracker like a mech about to die.

The blue jet vented- Primus help him- and tried not to let his annoyance show.

"Skywarp's here for tutoring," he began evenly. "I'm Thundercracker. I'm here for… moral support." He added, after a moment, "Warp asked me to stay."

"_Lovely_," the stranger remarked sarcastically. "And I am _telling_ you to leave."

"Wait!" Skywarp protested. "He won't say anything or disrupt. Just let him stay."

"Ugh," scoffed the tutor. "Fine. Your little date can stay and protect you."

"_Date_?" they repeated in disbelief.

"Please. Like I can't see you gripping his servo for dear life under the table."

"Moral support!" Skywarp repeated even as they frantically withdrew their limb to their side. "It's a thing _friends _do, Starscream."

"Yes, well, I suppose I wouldn't know-"

"You know her?" Thundercracker questioned, raising an optic ridge.

"Well, _of _her, yeah," Skywarp answered with distaste. "Everyone does."

"Never heard of her." He shrugged.

This was apparently the wrong thing to say, because Starscream promptly managed to look even more enraged. Skywarp stiffened.

"He doesn't really know who anyone is, he's kind of a loner- Starscream's _the _honor student-"

"So what's _the_ honor student doing mentoring?" Thundercracker asked, unimpressed. His tone was neutral, torn between trying to appeal to his friend's tutor and trying not to let her annoy him.

"If you _must _know," she replied with some hesitation, "I _may_ have been wrongly blamed for a small explosion in the science wing and unjustly sentenced to community service."

[_This is the third time she's wrecked an entire lab_,] Skywarp added over their comms.

Starscream hissed through her vents. "Now, if we're all done getting buddy-buddy, are we going to get this experiment in futility over with?" Thundercracker raised his servos in surrender and moved his chair to the corner of the room, promptly returning to his abandoned datapad as Starscream glared. "Now, shall I assume you know _nothing_ of chemistry, or _may _I skip to a part that requires a fundamental knowledge of anything at all?"

Thundercracker lowered the volume on his audio receptors.

It was two breems later that he decided he couldn't put up with any more of Starscreams lectures. Returning his audio receptor volume to normal, he rose from his seat noisily and leered as he approached the table. "Starscream."

"Please tell me you're leaving," she groaned. "Otherwise, I give you full permission to shut the slag up."

"You're not going to get anywhere just telling Warp that these things happen," the larger mech continued anyway. "I tried. Don't you have any hands-on demonstrations?"

"I would, perhaps, if I hadn't been wrongly forbidden to deal with any of the more… corrosive chemicals." She sounded almost genuinely disappointed. "But this is how I learned, once it became clear I was no longer welcome in the labs. This method works."

"_Really_. Insulting a student when they don't know something you haven't properly demonstrated? That's how you learned?" _Explains something about your personality,_ he added to himself.

"TC, it's fine," Skywarp interjected, standing up as well. "I can defend myself-"

"It's called _criticism_," Starscream continued, cutting off the other, "and perhaps some of us just aren't programmed for the Academy life-" The jet was cut off when a servo wrapped around her neck, closing around cables and hindering the flows within; the grip forced her to look up, and Thundercracker cruelly hoped that there was some genuine surprise and fear hidden behind her defiant scowl.

"_Do not _insult Skywarp like that," the larger seeker growled, his voice lowering to a deep baritone. "You may be brilliant, Starscream, but you are _not _better than them. I feel sorry for your friends if you're always such an insufferable aft."

With a harsh vent, he released his grip and had no more to say. All was silent for a moment before Thundercracker suddenly stiffened and jolted his head to the side; Skywarp was staring, shocked for a moment, then confused, then—angry?

"I can defend _myself_," they repeated.

Of course.

What had he done?

"I-" he stuttered weakly, all the fierceness and anger leaving him, "sorry-"

He backed away from the smaller seeker as if she was holding a knife—with her expression she might as well have been—and bolted for the door. It briefly occurred to him that there were rules about running in the hallway, but for once he couldn't bring himself to care.

Maybe he could transfer to Iacon where no one knew him—no, too many grounders—or switch classes- sure, it would be hard to avoid the two of them until graduation, but he was good at what he did, and what he did was run away from his problems. It had worked so far.

Granted, he hadn't quite managed to run away from the whole "being constantly aware that you're justifiably hated by everyone who ever trusted you" thing, but who knew? Processor manipulation seemed to be getting more and more advanced, and he'd heard plenty of reviews say that Froid would willingly take anyone to test new procedures—

But as he ran to the Academy's exit and flew, he knew he wouldn't. Couldn't. No matter how many times he thought about it, after Cloudhopper, after Skystorm. It was an overreaction, he knew, and he knew he should have stayed calm and simply apologized—shouldn't have been so aggressive in the first place, really, but making amends was better than nothing. But he'd crushed that opportunity himself.

He didn't want to think about what he had done, or what he would do. And so he didn't, and kept flying.

Back in a small Academy room, two seekers were very confused.


	4. Chapter 4

"Your little lover's spat has _nothing_ to do with me," Starscream sneered with disdain, sitting once more in the small tutoring room with one leg crossed over the other. "I refuse to help a mech who nearly offlined me."

"Oh, come on!" Skywarp exclaimed. "Will you quit it with the 'lover' thing? This is serious!"

"You mean you're not?" The mentor smirked and quirked an optic ridge.

"No! Not at all!"

"Oh my, if only dear Thundercrasher could hear you rejecting him now," she chuckled with false shock in her voice. "Especially after he so heroically tried to stand up for you and you clearly weren't pleased-"

"Starscream, can you please _shut up_?" Skywarp bellowed. For emphasis, they brought themself to their pedes; they were the tallest of the trio who had gathered in that same room nearly a breem earlier, and towered over the most petite of them when she sat. "Just for one klik?"

The jet in question vented in irritation but said nothing.

"Okay, so, yeah, TC threatened you," Skywarp admitted. They had begun to pace after the outburst and were gesticulating incomprehensibly, which wasn't quite helping Starscream's patience. "But you were kind of being an aft and you were there, you could probably guess where he went best. You're _smart._"

"I prefer the term 'brilliant,'" Starscream chuckled, "but yes. Perhaps, though, it would be better to ask someone who actually knows the fool?" Skywarp's pacing stopped abruptly.

"Well, um, the thing is…" the black mech began hesitantly, rubbing their helm, "I haven't really found anyone who really knows him. He, uh, doesn't really have any friends, apparently."

The red-and-white jet was absolutely deadpan.

"So, let's see if I have this right. You are trying to find a mech with no friends who is clearly unpredictably violent. Even though you presumably have friends who, oh, aren't a danger to everyone around them?"

"He's not dangerous, he was mad!"

"And," Starscream continued acerbically, "you're doing all this out of the goodness of your precious little spark and _not_ because you obviously want to do more than just hold servos with the waste of space?"

"TC isn't a waste of space," the larger jet interjected firmly. "He's my _friend_."

"Yes, well, you've been pining over your missing 'friend' for nearly a breem and yet he's still ignoring you. The feeling doesn't seem to be mutual."

"That's only 'cause…"

"Because you were angry he defended you?" Starscream examined her servos and harshly laughed, "The two of you are quite a pair." Skywarp buried their face in their servos to keep from screaming.

"Okay, you know what's going to happen? _You _are going to help me find TC, and _I'm _going to find a tutor who isn't a total aft after this is over! Just hurry up and be smart already so I can forget this ever happened."

The smaller jet sighed theatrically. "Fine, if you're so insistent on finding your _TC_."

Skywarp glared.

"What? I didn't even mention how obviously in love you are this time."

"First of all! I'm not. That would be weird," they huffed. "And you don't get to call him TC."

Starscream raised a doubtful optic ridge at that, but—thankfully for Skywarp—said no more on the topic. "Fine. Have you at _least_ asked his suitemate where he's been?"

"Uh."

"Oh, _come _on-"

It wasn't that Skywarp hadn't thought about finding him; it just seemed that no one really knew about Thundercracker's roomie. It was hard enough in the first place to find anyone who knew of Thundercracker himself. Everything about him was dull and plain; blue had always been a common color in the Academy and he blended into the background without a fuss. It sometimes seemed as if he tried not to be noticed.

It took a great deal of asking around cluelessly, but after a number of ordeals the two seekers were able to locate the habsuite belonging to Thundercracker and his significantly more outgoing roommate Lightdive. Receiving no reply upon buzzing the room comm, Skywarp frowned resolutely and plopped themselves on the ground outside. Starscream, having talked to far too many mechs that day already, scowled and turned on her thruster heel.

"Ping me if this mysterious suitemate ever returns," she demanded, sending Skywarp her comm frequency as she strode away.

For a long while, Skywarp sat and thought. Occassionally their processor would turn to dark thoughts, ideas they really weren't comfortable considering, regarding Thundercracker's fate or how he'd react to seeing them. They would quickly terminate those trains of thought, instead playing out more hopeful conversations in their processor, creating possible scripts. Every so often they would tap servos together or hum, needing some sort of stimulation, or else the dark thoughts came back.

Skywarp wasn't quite sure when they accidentally idled their systems and clicked out of consciousness.

Painfully bright yellow met Skywarp's optics when they onlined again. When the black mech looked up, a smallish seeker stood in front of them, more puzzled than anything.

"Uh, you okay?"

"Lightdive?" Skywarp questioned, and slowly brought themself to their pedes.

"Yeah." The stranger shifted, one servo now on their waist and the other rubbing his helm. "Who're you?"

"Skywarp. TC's friend. Thundercracker's."

"Skywarp? Well, slag," Lightdive laughed, "Can't believe I'm actually meeting you. Come on in, then. Dunno when Thun will get back." He gestured at the door before moving to key in the passcode.

"Um. What do you mean?" Skywarp asked warily, but followed their friend's suitemate in when the door slid open. "About the 'actually meeting' part."

"Alright, okay, sit down for this," the yellow seeker suggested, taking a seat on his own berth, "but like—you know Thun, you know he hasn't really got anyone he's close to. He comms me one night, 'LD, you can do whatever you want in the suite tonight, I'm pulling an all-nighter with Skywarp,' and of course I'm confused, 'cause TC's always talking about how I should recharge more even though he's always up when I get home—"

The garrulousness of Thundercracker's suitemate nearly made Skywarp freeze, but they managed to generally keep up with the stream of chatter. They could only manage to send a quick ping to Starscream and drop themself into a chair at a mostly-organized desk, presumably Thundercracker's, before giving their full attention to Lightdive.

"—So I come back the next day when Thun's still conscious and ask what was up and he says, 'Just studying with someone I know,' and it was a big deal." He looked directly at Skywarp for emphasis. "A big deal. Usually a total loner. Kind of _glitched_, you know? But I ask about you and he—he's usually the quiet type, hates talking—but he goes on about how you met, says stuff that makes it seem like he actually gives a scrap about you. 'They're amazing,' and 'Yeah, being with them is nice,' all this sentimental slag—"

"TC said that?" Skwarp interrupted with a wide grin, and they hoped they were only imagining the heat in their faceplates. It was a small blessing that Starscream hadn't arrived yet.

Lightdive nodded and grinned back. "Yeah. Haven't seen him talk about anyone like that since Cloudhopper."

"Who?"

Lightdive hummed, searching for the best phrasing. "Some mech Thun was head-over-heels for. Totally obsessed with him. He never said it, but I get the feeling he had some 'never love again' thing after… whatever happened."

"What _did _happen?" Skywarp asked, though a large part of them knew they should really be asking Thundercracker these questions themselves. Maybe they would later and compare his answer to what they were hearing now.

"Not sure." The smaller seeker shrugged. "They had a weird long-distance thing and Thun went to meet the guy over break, long time ago. Came back two breems later looking like slag and never wanted to talk about the mech again." Skywarp jolted forward in their seat with panic in their optics.

"That fragger beat TC up?" they snarled, a little surprised at the fierceness in their own voice.

"I wish," Lightdive deadpanned, and he scoffed at the almost-growl he received. "Thun's tough," he offered as an explanation. "Always has been. Got dinged up a lot and got used to it, but he was spoiled. He was a really open mech, a real try-hard, an' he came back… tired, I dunno. And he's just been tired ever since."

The two fell into uncomfortable silence, neither thrilled with the turn the conversation had taken. Skywarp was actually grateful when a sharp knock came from the door, and they rushed to answer it.

"Starscream," they explained. "A friend. Probably."

The red seeker was scouring the room with her optics by the time the door had fully opened; she promptly strode in and took the chair Skywarp had previously claimed, delegating them to a seat on Thundercracker's berth.

"Well?" Starscream asked sharply, continuing to appraise the room. "Where is he?"

Lightdive hesitated a moment and shrugged. "I don't know. He's been coming back after I fall into recharge, I think. Last I asked him, he just went, 'It's okay, don't worry, I'll be fine out here.' He hasn't said anything more."

"'Out here?'" Skywarp repeated, afraid to be hopeful. "But where?"

"Not too far, I'd say." The mech hummed. "He manages to come back every so often, so maybe the badlands?"

"I'm going."

"The badlands are huge, buddy," Lightdive pointed out apologetically; the black seeker had already hastily bolted from their chair toward the door when they paused and looked back. Their optics were dimmed with worry.

"Don't care."

Starscream began to make some remark, but Skywarp paid her no heed. Now wasn't the time to pick a fight. The badlands were expansive and harsh, and who knew what Thundercracker might be doing out there or where he might be…

As they flew over the city, though, Skywarp distracted themself from darker thoughts by focusing on one observation.

The stars were beautiful that night.


End file.
